Summary:

Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Judgment’s missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home.

With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, he questions Addam’s relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. But as they investigate, they uncover more than a missing man: a legendary creature connected to the secret of the massacre of Rune’s Court.

In looking for Addam, can Rune find the truth behind his family’s death and the torments of his past?

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Thoughts:

Aaaah, I loved this book so much!

Do you like witty banter? Do you like liberal use of the word fuck? Do you like books with rag-tag groups working together to get shit done? Do you like mysteries and magic and all kinds of mayhem? Do you like Tarot cards and/or the legend of Atlantis? If you like any and / or all of the above, this may just be the book for you. 😀

I don’t know how I’d classify this book except perhaps as urban fantasy (it’s fantasy and it takes place in a city and it does very much feel like it fits in with that subgenre as far as tone) but it’s a new kind of urban fantasy and for that alone it has my attention. (No offence, because I love UF, but you get a little tired of the same old same old after a while.) I love everything about the world-building because it’s all so very fresh feeling. An Atlantean magical ruling class built on the concept of tarot cards? Yes please. The city of New Atlantis itself is amazing–a mishmosh of various historical buildings brought together on the island of Nantucket and made into something new, but not necessarily shiny. This city, and its society has a dark side. Necromancers, wild magic, ghosts of the past…they all exist here too. And where there’s power to be had, well people don’t always play well together to begin with. The different houses have their little alliances, and it’s interesting to see the dynamics. I think we’ll get to see even more of that in the future of this world (at least I hope!).

The number one thing I loved about The Last Sun is that it’s just such a fun ride. I can’t even count the number of times I laughed out loud while reading this book. It also has lots of great action in it. The pace is great and it makes for a quick read, but a satisfying one. That being said, while all the wise-cracks and sarcasm (ugh, this book gets me) were fantastic (FANTASTIC), it’s not a surface level type of book at all. There are some very dark things that our characters are dealing with, especially Rune, our main protagonist. Orphaned as a teenager, he’s the last surviving member of his Arcana, or house. The only one that survived along with him is his human companion, Brand. I love Rune and Brand’s relationship. It’s a bit odd since Brand never had a choice in being bonded to Rune as a baby and they’ve always been together, but it’s clear that they both care very much for each other. And Brand has been the one to see Rune through some very dark times. They’re both sarcastic and like to snipe at each other but it’s all a lot of show. Rune is clearly someone who still has a lot of things to deal with, things from his past that won’t allow him to fully move forward, although he’s beginning to take some baby steps. I think we’ll get to see even more character development as the story progresses and I’m excited for that.

As for other characters, well, they’re all great. Some you don’t know quite what to think of at first, whether or not they’re to be trusted, such as Lord Tower (kind of a mysterious guy) and Addam (how much does he know and whose side is he on). Also, Brand and Rune are suddenly given over custody (so to speak) of a teenager, Max, who is like Rune, the last surviving member of his Arcana. I love Max because he is such a teenager but he also very much wants to join the group and obviously, like Rune, has a lot of things to deal with. This group of characters comes together and they make…a kind of family in a way. And if there’s one thing I absolutely love in stories, it’s found families.

Overall, this book was one hundred thousand million percent right up my alley as a reader and hit all the right spots from world-building, to characters, to pretty much everything. There is a bunch of other stuff that I could talk about this book (ah, the romance, aaaaaah) but I don’t really want to go into it because I don’t want to spoil this book for anyone. My advice–just go read it. My only regret with this one is having taken so long to pick up a copy. 5/5 stars.